Drop
Reviewed by:
craigjames4, on september 26, 2014 2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 179

Purchased from: Sweetwater.com

Ease of Use: Just plug the pedal in, in front of your amp, and turn the knob from left to right to select how many semitones down you want to play from your current tuning. The unit ships with it's own power supply for US and an overseas adapter (unknown which type plug though). // 10

Sound: On a whim I decided to order this pedal even though I was concerned with some of the negative feedback I read regarding latency. When I received the pedal I tested the latency myself and I could find little to no gap audible to me. Perhaps if you have other pedals in front or behind this pedal, it could effect the latency more, but this is the only pedal I run in front of my EVH 5150 III, and it works very well.

Although I considered giving this product 9 stars, I knocked off 2 stars because with my amp and pickups (Duncan Distortions) the best representation of the dropped tones were at 5 semitones. Perhaps with a different amp or pickups one could utilize the full octave, but with my current setup it didn't sound as natural after 5 semitones. // 8

Reliability & Durability: The shell is incredibly tough metal, and is well engineered. This thing can handle years of brutal stomping. You probably wouldn't need a backup for this unit given it's over manufacturing. Don't drop it off of a high, precarious height. It would probably break. However, it would probably survive a 5 foot drop. But I would not do that repeatedly. That should just about do it for the character requirement. // 9

Overall Impression: In the end I am very happy not having to own more than two electric guitars now as a result of owning this pedal so that I may be able to play a plethora of songs that aren't restricted to open or lower drop tunings than Drop D. I use the half-step tuning for Steel Panther, Slayer, and the whole step tuning for Motley Crue songs. I feel this is the first pedal that I've owned that if it broke (which is impossible), I would buy a replacement as soon as possible! // 9

Drop
Reviewed by:
Panos94, on august 25, 2016 1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Price paid: € 145

Purchased from: DjShop.gr

Ease of Use: The Drop is generally a fairly easy pedal to understand how it works and how it is controlled. The knob at the top controls the number of semitones the pedal drops your initial tuning. That goes all the way down to an octave down from the original tuning and there's also another option, where both the dry and the lower octave signal come out of the output. There is also a Momentary function, which, as the name suggests, if enabled turns the pedal off if you take your foot off the stomp switch at the bottom. It also works the other way around, as you can have the pedal turn on if you step off the switch. This allows for various interesting effects that can offer you a few different possibilities, such as imitating a floating trem to do dive bombs. There could another set of stomp switches to allow for quick changes between specific tunings, but then the real estate of the pedal would increase significantly without offering that much more in terms of quick access. // 10

Sound: Soundwise the pedal does its intended job almost flawlessly. While A/B'ing two recordings of the same phrase played with the Drop and with the real tuning, it's very hard to tell the difference. There is minimal digital "colouring" of the tone, but it can noticeably present the lower the tuning goes. Again, the deterioration in tone is negligible and shouldn't be an issue. As far as tracking and latency are concerned, the Drop tracks excellently, regardless of how fast your lead playing is or how low the tuning you've set is. There is a latency of a few milliseconds, but it is not noticeable unless you record yourself while playing and take a look at your DAW. // 9

Reliability & Durability: The Drop features a typical DigiTech metallic housing, with a hard plastic knob on top that handles the number of semitones dropped, a static switch that turns the Momentary function of the pedal on and off and a basic stompbox switch that activates and deactivates the whole pedal. Dimensions-wise, it's an average sized pedal, about the size of an average palm and won't be an issue if your pedalboard is packed with other pedals. It feels solid, well-built and the parts don't feel cheap at all. It generally gives out a high-quality feel and should continue to function properly for years. The only complaint I personally have, is that the basic knob is maybe too soft and easy to rotate and may therefore lead to some accidental tuning changes. Then again this depends on how you use it (live or in the studio, etc) and how often in a session, so this may not be a problem at all for some. // 9

Overall Impression: Conclusively, the Drop is a pedal that can easily find its way into the rig of pretty much every guitarist. If you play songs on multiple tunings, especially when those are far apart, but you have only a few guitars, you gig with only a couple of them or you have guitars with floating trems, this pedal is essential and can help you get past these limitations. Even if this doesn't apply to your equipment, the Drop offers tireless experimentation with different tunings, keys and textures of sound, so you find what style of sound fits that new riff you came up with, or what key you can sing in the better. It's built with care and high quality and can deliver on every occasion sound wise, without alter the signal almost at all and without any noticeable latency. // 9

I have the full whammy version (with the DT part); I don't use it much since playing an 8-string, but I'm with you... sounds very authentic for the first 5 semi-tones. OK after that, depending on amp and other pedal settings, but ideal for getting that deeper growl.

I also have the Whammy DT, I mainly use the "drop" side of it and surprisingly one of the features I like a lot is the 12 string option which is Octave+Dry. If a version was made where it had both up and down tunings without the Whammy side that would be better.